Named by Paracelsus in German, possibly for its jagged prong-like crystals when smelted
A bluish-white metallic chemical element used in alloys and galvanization
From German 'Zink', first used by Paracelsus in the 1520s to describe the metal. The origin of the German word is debated — it may relate to 'Zinke' meaning prong or tooth, describing the jagged crystalline shape zinc takes when it solidifies in a furnace. Another theory links it to Persian 'sing' meaning stone. The metal itself was known in alloy form (brass) for millennia, but was not isolated as a pure element
Paracelsus, the Swiss-German alchemist who coined the word Zink around 1526, also coined the words gas and chemistry. Indian metallurgists had been producing pure zinc at Zawar since the 9th century, but European smelters could not replicate the process until Andreas Marggraf succeeded in 1746.